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A model for the cognitive assessment of physicians
Victor A Del Bene1,2, George Howard3, David S Geldmacher1
1Department of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States.
Frontiers in Public Health
|July 31, 2025
Summary
Physicians demonstrate superior cognitive function compared to the general population. Even older physicians outperform average 45-year-olds, highlighting the need for physician-specific cognitive benchmarks.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Medical Education
- Gerontology
Background:
- Growing concern regarding physician cognitive impairment with an aging workforce.
- Current cognitive assessments for physicians often use general population norms, potentially masking impairment.
- Need for physician-specific normative data for accurate competency evaluations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a normative database of cognitive performance in healthy physicians.
- To establish benchmarks for evaluating physician cognitive status.
- To inform competency evaluations and address age-related cognitive changes in physicians.
Main Methods:
- Prospective, cross-sectional observational study design.
- Collected cognitive test data from 190 healthy physicians (ages 35-65) without work concerns.
- Utilized a neuropsychological test battery with z-score transformation for performance analysis.
Main Results:
- Physician cognitive performance was, on average, 0.5 to 1.0 standard deviations higher than the general population.
- Older physicians (60-65) still performed better than the average 45-year-old non-physician.
- Age was negatively correlated with cognitive performance (-0.18), but performance remained above general population averages.
Conclusions:
- Physicians exhibit higher cognitive functioning than the general public.
- Physician-specific normative data is crucial, as general population standards may obscure cognitive decline in medical professionals.
- Established age-correction methods for the general population may be inadequate for assessing physician cognitive health.
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